upgrade worth it?

S

schapman

Gawd
Joined
Oct 23, 2003
Messages
721
Hey all,
i've been thinking lately it might be time to retire the old 9700pro that has served me well. I want to stay on agp for now and just do a budget upgrade. I've been thinking about getting a 6600gt. Its faster than my 9700pro, and supports HDR and the goodies like that.. and comes in at about $250 canadian from what i've seen locally. This a worthy upgrade? or should i jsut wait to see what the 7800 (and the r520) does to pricing of the 6800s.
 
I dont think the next generation vid cards are going to be in agp...
 
You can get a 6800Nu for not that much more than a 6600GT these days. More memory bandwidth, 4 more pipes stock. Also the chance to unlock the extra shader and pipes via software like rivatuner.


However, the 6600gt is a good choice as well. Get the best card you can afford, never mind the " For a few more bucks" people. Get what you can afford or are willing to spend.
 
I'd wait to see what the G72 and R530 have to offer - hopefully we'll see some AGP versions with a bridge chip.
 
yaeh i dont think he wants to spend that much though. keep watching newegg for the $156 PNY 6800 vanilla. It goes in out of stock, but its a great deal and a good upgrade from a 9700 pro.
 
I'm in the same boat but coming from a 9500Pro. 6800 is my choice and now I am just debating if the GT is worth it or not.
 
If you're talking AGP and 128 MB, here we go...

eVga $240 CDN at monarch computer
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merc...e=M&Product_Code=190140&Category_Code=VC-EVGA

Gigabyte $239 CDN at zipflyzoom
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322238
That one is in stock but for one that is on back order (with HDTV out) $245 CDN
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322263

Here’s an oddball. This is a Leadtek 6800 LE. Does anyone here know anything about the 6800 LE? Anyway, at tigerdirect.ca it’s $215 CDN That might be the best deal if it’s a good card.
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1389452&CatId=0

The first two display prices in US dollars. They all ship to Canada.

forget everything I wrote, it's crap
I just did some research and found the 6800 non-GT model BELOW the 6600 GT on benchmarks. What you really want is a 6800 GT which doesn't lag too far behind the 6800 Ultra. It also beats the 6600 GT by a long shot. All this on tom's hardware:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/vga_charts-06.html

ANOTHER EDIT:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2277&p=3
This page shows how the 6600 GT surpasses the 9800 Pro but only by a few frames per second. The 6600 GT is only way better in Battlefield Vietnam. So, I'd say if you can get a really good price for the 9800 Pro, it might be a better deal:
At Monarch Computer, it's only $150 CDN. (They ship to Canada.) Sheesh. Or, get it from canadacomputers.com for $164 CDN. They ship from inside Canada.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=005628&cid=999.821
 
Person above me, you're looking at the most biased website out there for info? Find better sources.

The 6800 always beats the 6600GT at higher resolutions, and I'd never recommened a 6600GT, to me its either get the 6800nu or dont upgrade.
 
forumposter32 said:
what's nu?
Click to expand...

NU = Non Ultra. NU is added at the end of the name a lot of the times to help clear it up for anyone who might get a 6800U, 6800GT, or a 6800 confused.
 
Is it "worth it"?

The stamp that sold at auction last year for close to a million dollars, is really only worth 1/2 cent if licked and stuck on an envelope.

So it's all relative. Nothing that anyone purchased last year is "worth" it. You'll not be able to add any of your hardware purchases to your retirement nest egg. In fact since computer hardward is classified as hazardous waste, you'll pay someone to take it away eventually :D

The question is "do you need it"? If the answer is truely "yes" then get it. If the answer is "not really" then its a waste at this time.
 
Yeah, this is truly rediculous. I looked at some comparisons on
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2.html
and it truly is complicated. I mean, which one is better between 9800 Pro and 6600 GT depends on which game you look at, which resolution and which mode. For example, the 6600 GT can beat the 9800 Pro in Doom3 if I remember correctly. But it's beaten in UT2004 at certain resolutions or mode (like no AF or AF, whatever).

Since I prefer UT2004 and I ALSO prefer the damn price of the 9800 Pro, I'd get the Sapphire at canadacomputers.com for $164. However, if you're worried about the possibility of RMA'ing it, then you can choose the ATI brand model for like $15 more or whatever it was again.

Well, my mind is made up in that department. If I upgrade to the 9800 Pro from my Ti4200, the next upgrade would be going from a socket A Duron 1.8 GHz to a socket 754 Sempron 3700+ when it comes out. Of course AMD changes its plans sometimes so it may not come out. In that case I'd wait for a cheap dual core.
 
forumposter32 said:
I looked at some comparisons on
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2.html
and it truly is complicated. I mean, which one is better between 9800 Pro and 6600 GT depends on which game you look at, which resolution and which mode. For example, the 6600 GT can beat the 9800 Pro in Doom3 if I remember correctly. But it's beaten in UT2004 at certain resolutions or mode (like no AF or AF, whatever).
Click to expand...

It's not that complicated. In older games that are more bandwidth limited with AA, you're going to see the 9800pro pull ahead. In newer games that are more shader bound the 6600GT will pull ahead.
 
Get any 6800nu (325mhz core/700 mem) for $150-$200 and it will be a great upgrade to the 9700. If you use lower res graphics there is little difference between nu and GT. (in my experience, please no flaming, I am not an expert).

It will probably be a while before you can get a AGP top of the line card, if you want to spend $600.
 
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